Anthony Rapp testified Friday that he “felt like a deer in headlights†after Kevin Spacey allegedly climbed on top of him at a party three decades ago. At the time of the alleged assault, the Rent star was 14 and the American Beauty actor was 26. Rapp’s testimony came on the second day of his Manhattan sexual-abuse civil trial against Spacey. He sued Spacey in 2020 in relation to this alleged encounter. “I was frozen. I was pinned underneath him,†Rapp told jurors. “I didn’t really know what to do.â€Â Rapp, who knew Spacey since they both worked in theater, said he had gone to the older actor’s home for a party one evening in 1986, hoping to meet others in their industry. At the time, Rapp was about a five-foot-four teenager, around 100 pounds. “I wasn’t fully grown,†Rapp recalled, referencing his appearance, saying Spacey “striked me as being tall†when he opened the door to his apartment. Rapp said he wasn’t concerned about going to a party at Spacey’s apartment with adults — he had been surrounded by adults at industry get-togethers for years, without incident. When Rapp walked inside, the lights were somewhat dim. “I didn’t see anyone that I recognized other than Kevin Spacey,†he said. “It didn’t seem like there were a lot of people there.†Rapp said that he wasn’t introduced to anyone, nor did anyone come up to him: “I just felt, like, immediately awkward and shy.†So Rapp decided to take in the impressive view from Spacey’s high-rise apartment on the Upper East Side. He then decided to watch television in the bedroom area.
At some point, Rapp noticed Spacey to his right. “I was sitting on the edge of the bed here, facing the window and the television, with my feet on the floor … I noticed that he was sort of unsteady on his feet and seemed to be kind of, like, glassy-eyed a little bit, a little bit unfocused in his eyes,†he said. Rapp alleged that the “intoxicatedâ€-looking Spacey then reached down and picked him up, holding him “like a groom holds a bride over a threshold.†Spacey allegedly laid Rapp down on the bed and got on top of him. “He put his full weight onto my chest,†Rapp said. “He wasn’t fully parallel on me; it was a little bit of an angle. He was pressing his groin into my hip, the side of my hip.†Rapp said that he “managed to wriggle out†from underneath Spacey and momentarily take refuge in the bathroom. When Rapp left the restroom and made his way toward the door, Spacey asked, “Are you sure you want to leave?†Rapp alleged. Rapp said he responded with “some version of ‘no, thank you, good night’†and left.
On Friday morning, another Spacey accuser testified. Andy Holtzman told jurors that he “lifted me up by my crotch†and “pushed me back onto my desk†during an alleged summer 1981 incident where, he claimed, Spacey accosted him in his office at The Public Theater. “I knew I screamed things like ‘What are you doing? Get off of me!’†Holtzman, who ran a film program at The Public Theater, said he was sitting at his desk, and finishing a phone call in the office he worked out of, when Spacey walked in. It wasn’t a private office; there were two desks, and people with theater business would often use the space as a lounge. Spacey, who was acting in a Public Theater production of Henry IV, said nothing. When his call ended, Spacey approached the still-sitting Holtzman. “I noticed that he was wearing very tight blue jeans, and through the blue jeans was a very clear, large erection,†Holtzman alleged. “He began to approach. I wasn’t sure what to do.†Holtzman stood. That’s when Spacey scooped him up and pushed him against the desk, he alleged. “I could feel his erection on my body…near my groin,†Holtzman said, appearing shaken as he testified. “There were a few more moments before he relented and got up and got off me.†He said Spacey, angry, “stormed out†of the office. Spacey was wordless throughout the alleged encounter. “I sat there completely in shock. I didn’t really know what just happened.†Holtzman said his mind was racing. “Did I do anything to bring this on? What did I do?†he recalled thinking. “I blamed myself.†Holtzman was called by Rapp’s lawyers, who are trying to establish that Rapp’s allegations against Spacey are not isolated. Rapp alleged that Spacey picked up the then-minor, pushed him against a bed, and laid on top of him following a house party. Rapp was 14 at the time of the alleged incident, and Spacey 26. While Holtzman was 27 during the alleged encounter at the Manhattan arts organization, his description closely echoed Rapp’s claims. Holtzman is not a party in this case.
On cross-examination, one of Spacey’s attorneys, Chase Scolnick, tried to poke holes in Holtzman’s recollection. He also tried to undermine the idea that Spacey would be attracted to a minor. “You could grow a beard in 1981, right?†Scolnick said. “No one would mistake you as a 14-year-old in 1981?†Holtzman agreed.
After Holtzman’s testimony ended, Rapp’s longtime friend Christopher Denny took the stand. At some point in the early 1990s, Denny said, Rapp told him about the alleged encounter with Spacey. “Mr. Spacey picked him up and put him on a bed that was in that room and then proceeded to get onto the bed on top of him, scaring him, making him uncomfortable and alarmed and so on,†Denny claimed Rapp told him.
Before lunch, Rapp took the stand and will continue to testify later today.
This is story has been updated with additional information.Â